


Tending

by Ebhenah



Series: Fictober 2018 [14]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Dryads - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Green Man, Pixies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 02:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16714879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/pseuds/Ebhenah
Summary: Fictober Day 14 Prompt: "Some people call this wisdom."Original fiction/Original charactersFantasy/Magical CreatureRating: T for LGBTQI2SA+ themes





	Tending

The pixies were in an uproar by the time she got back to her dorm room. Caprea dropped her satchel onto the little table by the door and took in the destruction. Two… no, THREE emptied casks of assorted fermented nectars. Random articles of clothing scattered everywhere. An overturned bottle of ink and snapped quill- lovely, that would be so much fun to clean up. Likewise, for the very rare, very expensive bottle of saffron honey her mother had given her for potion-making, which was oozing slowly down a stack of spellbooks, the gooey rivulets surrounded by miniscule, telltale hand, foot, and… yup… those were undoubtedly butt prints making it clear that the pixies were all highly intoxicated. She stopped to right that bottle and re-cork it, because that saffron honey was easily the most valuable thing in their quarters and she refused to let any more of it go to waste.

Further regard revealed half a sandwich, hastily and improperly covered by an upturned glass bowl. At least a dozen candles of various colors and compositions… and, of course, one dozen frantic, screeching pixies bouncing around the room like a swarm of gnats. She sighed, she honestly had NO IDEA what could have happened, and she knew better than to try to get any kind of coherent explanation from the pixies. "Tansae?" she called, fanning one straggling pix away from her face and hair. "Are you still here?"

"Y'am," came the response from the far end of their small suite of rooms. "Fer now an'always. F'r ever n'ever n'ever!"

"Isn't Fennelore throwing a party for YOU tonight?" she half-hollered, picking her way across the minefield of books and bottles and other detritus the floor had become, moving toward her dorm-mate's room. Four pixies flew into her face, their clashing voices high and indecipherable when they were this agitated… and sugared. "Ugh," she muttered softly, "you all should make yourself useful and put some of this hodgepodge to rights! I know you contributed to making it!"

"Fennelore can suck m'twigs," Tansae responded, the statement punctuated by a loud clunk as something (probably a shoe or book based on the sound) hit the door.

"But he's been planning this for MONTHS!" She'd reached the door, but she knew better than to open it without Tansae's ok. "Can I come in?"

"Ugh, FINE," Tansae said, and the door flicked open. Caprea had thought that the common areas were a mess- she didn't even have words to describe what she face in Tansae's bedchamber. It seemed as if all of her roommate's possessions were tossed on the floor, or floating mid-air, or dripping upwards… so, yeah, the guest of honor for Fennelore's massive, elite soiree was completely uprooted on fermented nectar.

"Sweet moon," she breathed, "what happened?"

"Leuce," Tansae groaned, plucking a pillow out of the air to scream into. "Leuce happened."

"Ah," she wove through the obstacles to sit down next to her roommate. "Did you ask her out?" Tansae had been mooning over Leuce since their second week of classes- nearly a year ago. It was one of those awful, all-encompassing crushes that turned you into a tongue-tied, clumsy, blushing idiot. Tansae of the Black Oaks had never had that kind of crush before and it was taking its toll on the usually confident dryad.

"Not exactly," she rumbled, the mistletoe that grew interspersed with her hair, cycled through a full turn of the seasons. Before Caprea's eyes they budded, berried, burnished and fell. "I WANTED to, but then I's talking to her an'she laughed, an'I completely forgot what I'ad practiced… was like m'brain got dry rot."

"It probably wasn't as bad as you think," she soothed.

Tansae lifted her head from the pillow, levelling a dry expression at her roommate, "I told'er Fennelore was throwin'a party an'she should come."

"So far, so good…"

"An'at it was pro'bly goin't be crowded. Kind'a 'the more the merrier' thin… so she should feel free t'bring someone if'n sh'wanted."

"Wait- so, in trying to ask her out, you somehow told her to bring someone ELSE to YOUR party, as her date?"

"Exactly!" Tansae flopped back onto the mattress dramatically, screaming into the pillow again. "HOW?! How does she do this t'me?" The words were muffled, but Caprea managed to make them out.

"You're just not used to being on THIS end of a crush. It sucks, but we've all been there at some point."

"Well, I hates it… an'she's in E'ERY SINGLE ONE o'm'classes an'almost all m'clubs. So, I'm just gon'ta stay in'ere til graduation. I'll just scry the lectures an'submit e'erything by scroll. I don't need t'go anywhere. Easy."

"Except that Fennelore is your Green Man, and he loves you, and he has sunk a ridiculous amount of time and money into this party," she pointed out, "and if you don't go, it could cause major fallout in all the groves that impacts all of us." Her voice gentled, "and hurt the man that will be safeguarding your saplings someday."

"But I don't wan't'go," Tansae whined, "Leuce might be there… an'I'll make an idiot o'm'self- in front of some o'the most powerful an'influential nymphs in the world… an'THAT will cause major fallout, too."

"Tansae, this is a party for YOUR tending, you cannot skip it," she stressed.

"What if'n I don't WANT a tending? Hmmm?"

"Sweet moon, how nectared ARE you? Tending isn't something you can skip! Besides, I know for a fact that you have been dropping leaves about your tending for weeks, right up until you screwed up with Leuce," she sighed, "regardless, backing out isn't an option… and you know it. So, come on, let's get you dressed."

"Y'know," Tansae griped as she stood and started changing into her party clothes, "bein'ware o'what y'can emotionally handle an'avoiding situations that would b'harmful t'yer emotional or mental health is important. That's what I'm doing. Some people call this wisdom."

"Mmm… some would.. But WISE people would call it cowardice."

"Fennelore would be really upset if'n I didn't go, wouldn't he?"

"Fennelore would be devastated," Caprea answered, "he loves you. You love him."

"I do love him," Tansae sighed, "but Leuce…"

"The situation with Leuce will work itself out with time. You can't go downing whole casks of fermented nectar because you put your foot in your mouth in front of someone you are smitten with. You are a Black Oak- you have centuries to pursue Leuce… but tonight you have your tending with your Green Man, and seedlings have a much much smaller window of time to work within." She helped Tansae lace up her gown, using her own magic to wind and twist the black hair and mistletoe into an elegant updo. "Who knows, maybe Fennelore will sing your praises to Leuce. It wouldn't be the first time a Green Man played matchmaker for his dryads."

"I could never ask'im t'do that, it feels too much like… exploiting 'is power."

She sighed, "well then… maybe Leuce thinks your blushing and awkwardness is endearing. Alright, let's get a look at you." Stepping back she regarded her roommate- the wispy green and white gown contrasted beautifully with her deep brown skin and brought out the leafy green of her eyes and lips. The mistletoe that grew in with her hair turned a simple updo into something showstopping. "Beautiful- just remember to blossom once you get to the grove."

Tansae grinned and hugged her, "yer the best roommate e'er. T'morra when I get back, I'll 'ave seedlings growin' in Fennelore's Grove!"

"I know! It's so exciting! Now, shoo… before you are late. I will… try to sober up the Pixies and clean this place up." She used her magic to clear a path for Tansae so her gown wouldn't get ruined by debris and waved her roommate off. She looked around their living space, shaking her head at the chaos left in Tansae's wake, and the growing number of pixies that were passing out midflight and spiralling to the floor like maple keys on a windless day.


End file.
